


Rings

by DarylsBabyGirl



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Sex mentioned, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 14:54:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12390366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarylsBabyGirl/pseuds/DarylsBabyGirl
Summary: Another Tumblr Prompt from What I Like About You HCs! We all know I LOVE MARRIAGE PROPOSALS! As soon as this one was given to me, I got excited and couldn't wait to write it! The headcanon is Paul is good at keeping secrets, but not keeping secrets from Daryl!





	Rings

He'd been on five different runs and three different jewelry stores before he finally found them. Two beautiful golden bands with matching swirl patterns on them, both the right sizes. How he'd managed to get Daryl's ring size without the man noticing, Paul would never know. Now, he just had to decide how to propose to the hunter. He'd have to hide the rings and keep them a secret until then. Paul was great at keeping secrets. He'd kept Daryl and Maggie a secret from Negan. He'd kept the crib he'd found for Maggie a secret. He'd even kept the new sunglasses he'd found for Tara a secret. 

He couldn't keep a secret from Daryl. He tries. God damn he tries; but, Daryl always seems to know when Paul is hiding something from him. Paul doesn't know how. He has a damn good poker face! He can direct a conversation any way he wants! For Christ's sake, he led a group of Saviors into a trap just by smiling and charming his way into their good graces!

Keeping a secret from Daryl was like trying to get the man to take a shower when they first met. (Now all he has to do is undress and walk into the bathroom and Daryl is sure to follow.)

Thus, Paul's current dilemma: Where to keep the rings until he decided on a way to propose to Daryl without embarrassing or offending the hunter? He couldn't keep them in his pockets. Daryl had a habit of yanking Paul's clothes off in the heat of passion. Paul feared the rings would just fall out. He could leave them with someone else, but... Paul had a hard time trusting others. He couldn't hide them in a tree or bush, Daryl would surely find them, then. He'd have to hide them somewhere in the house. 

But where?

Daryl knows every inch of their house. He'd picked it specifically for them after they'd gotten together and things became serious between them. They'd decorated it with paintings, books, antlers, jars of stones and little knick knacks that they both enjoyed. So, as Paul stood in the little foyer of their house, he looked left and right, trying to decide where Daryl spent most of his time. 

They liked to read together in the den, so that was a no go. Daryl's space was the garage. That was where he tinkered and gutted his kills usually, so that was a definite no. Their bedroom was also a no. Really, the only place Daryl doesn't go to a lot was the kitchen. They do cook together, but Paul could easily be the one to reach for something out of a drawer. 

With a nod to himself, he walked into the kitchen and started going through the drawers to decide which drawer to hide the ring box in. The silverware and knife drawer wouldn't work, so he settled on the drawer where they kept rags and pot holders. He put the box in the back and covered it with the cloths. He slid the drawer shut, but it got caught on the track. 

“Hey, Paul.” Daryl walked in and went toward the sink.

Paul jumped and whirled around. “Daryl!”

Daryl looked up from washing his hands. He raised an eyebrow at Paul's startled expression and tense posture. “Yeah... didn't ya hear me come in?”

“Uh.. no...” Paul leaned back against the counter, hiding the slightly open drawer from view. “W-What're you doing home so early?”

Daryl shut the water off and grabbed a dry rag from the oven door handle. “Ain't home that early... s'almost dark.” He tossed the rag on the counter and studied Paul's stance. He narrowed his eyes some. His boyfriend was nervous. “Want me ta fix that?”

“What? F-Fix what?”

Paul was stuttering. Daryl smirked and stepped closer. “The drawer... it's stuck on the track.” His hand reached out for the drawer behind Paul's hips. 

“No! It's fine!” Paul grabbed Daryl's hand and brought it to his chest instead. “Why don't you go shower? I'll make us dinner.”

Daryl raised an eyebrow at him. Paul swallowed and fidgeted under those blue eyes. “... Alright.” Daryl grinned and stepped closer, nipping Paul's ear. “Only if ya take one with me, though.”

Paul grinned. Anything to get Daryl out of the kitchen. “Let's go!” He held Daryl's hand and pulled him out of the kitchen and up the stairs to their room. 

 

He must've been too damn obvious, because now Daryl was always in the kitchen. He was teasing Paul. He knew something was up, that Paul was hiding something in their rag drawer. He used any chance he could to try to sneak a peek and Paul would use sex to draw Daryl away from the drawer. Paul had to find somewhere else to hide the rings. 

As they lay on the rug in front of the fireplace, basking in the afterglow of their orgasm, Paul stared at the sofa, thoughtful and determined. He could hide the ring box in the cushions. Or maybe in the springs under the cushions. They don't use the couch that much, really. The rings wouldn't get crushed. Paul nodded to himself. Daryl watched him from where he lay next to his boyfriend, smirking to himself. Paul was too damn adorable. 

Okay, the couch was a bad idea! 

Paul forgot that they had lube hidden on the cushions! Daryl was starting to lure Paul onto the couch with kisses and those beautiful bedroom eyes. Every time Daryl reached into the couch to get the lube stashed there, Paul's heart would almost stop. Daryl might miss the lube and find the rings instead! He's definitely going to have to move them now!

As soon as Daryl fell asleep in their bed, Paul snuck downstairs and grabbed the rings from the couch. He sighed wearily. He still doesn't know how he's going to propose to Daryl. He'd been so worried about Daryl finding them, he'd forgotten to even plan the proposal! He ran a hand through his hair and walked back up the stairs and into the room, the ring box in his hand. He looked over at Daryl to make sure the hunter was still asleep and walked into the bathroom. He looked around before deciding on under the sink. Daryl kept all his razors and hair ties in the drawers, so under the sink was a pretty safe bet. He covered the box up with a bag of cotton balls and shut the cabinet door. 

He got in the shower the next morning and just relaxed under the spray of hot water. He sighed softly and let his mind wander to the proposal. He could just cook up a nice dinner, light some candles and play some music. Daryl doesn't really care to be wine and dined, however. Shit, why is planning a proposal so damn hard? He may as well just propose during sex one night. Paul groaned. No, that would make it seem so-

The bathroom door opened and Daryl walked in, hair a mess and looking quite sleepy still. Paul tensed and looked through the glass door. 

“Mornin...” Daryl grunted as he walked to the bathroom sink to brush his teeth. Paul held his breath, watching his boyfriend, hopefully soon to be fiance, get ready for the day. Daryl glanced over at him, feeling Paul watch him. He raised an eyebrow and spit out a bit of toothpaste. “Yer wastin water.”

Paul bit his bottom lip and quickly finished washing up. He shut the water off and got out, grabbing a towel to dry off with. Daryl rinsed the toothpaste out and ran a brush through his hair before pulling it back. Paul watched him, eyes flicking down to the cabinet occasionally. Daryl watched him through the mirror. He smirked, pretending he thinks Paul's looking at his ass. 

“If ya like mah ass so much, why not smack it?” Daryl chuckled as Paul blushed and turned away to get dressed. “What? So, ya don't want to smack it?” He shrugged when Paul continued to ignore him “Yer loss.” Daryl left the bathroom to go get dressed.

Paul was screaming internally. He needed to purpose soon so he would stop stressing over keeping the rings hidden. He pulled his jeans and shirt off and brushed his hair quickly. He needed to get advice from someone. 

 

“Just ask him.” Rick said, not bothering to stop from his mission of pulling weeds out of his vegetable garden. 

“But... that just seems so... unromantic.” Paul sighed, arms crossed and watching Judy play with her blocks. 

 

“Jesus...” Rick sighed and sat back on his heels. He looked up at the other man. “I'm gonna be honest with you.” Paul nodded for him to continue. “Daryl doesn't do romantic.. and I figured you were the same way. You're both... scarred... in one way or another. I didn't even think Daryl was the marrying type until he met you.” He paused to take a drink from the glass of water on the stone step near him. “Really, the best way for you to do this, in my opinion... is broach the subject with him, and if he's amenable to it, ask him. Daryl's not gonna want no big wedding, that ain't who he is. Just an exchange of rings would sit fine with him.” He looked up at Paul again. “What do you want?”

Paul rubbed his beard with his hand. Rick brought up some very valuable points. He'd been so concerned on how to propose, he hadn't even thought about how Daryl might take an extravagant proposal, or if Daryl even wanted to be married. “Thanks, Rick.” Paul patted Rick's shoulder a couple times before walking away. 

He returned to the house he shared with Daryl and walked in. Daryl was in the kitchen drinking water. He looked like he'd just gotten back from a hunt. He was sweaty and his hair was a mess of leaves and twigs. Paul smiled. Try as he might to keep Daryl clean, the man just refused. He leaned against the doorway, watching Daryl clean the glass before putting it up. Daryl did try to at least keep their living spaces clean, botht their house in Alexandria and the trailer at Hilltop when they stayed there. Daryl turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. 

“What?”

Paul shook his head and looked down at his hands shyly. “I just had an interesting conversation with Rick.”

“Yeah?” Daryl leaned against against the counter, hands curling around the edge. “What'd ya'll talk about?”

Paul's heart raced. He licked his lips to wet them, catching Daryl's eyes watch his tongue. He smiled a bit. “... Marriage.”

Daryl's eyes flicked back up to Paul's. “Marriage? What got ya'll talkin about that? He gonna propose ta Michonne 'r somethin?”

“No... he was... I'm curious... what your thoughts on marriage are.” 

Daryl tensed a bit. “My thoughts?”

Paul nodded and looked back down at his hands. “Yeah... what are they?”

“... I dunno.” Daryl shrugged and looked down at his socked feet. He'd taken his boots off outside, not wanting to drag mud around in the kitchen and make Paul mad. “I... I've never thought about it. Never really thought I's marriage material.”

“Not even if... you met the right person?” Paul whispered.

Daryl stared at Paul, observing his nervous, shy stance. “D'you think 'm the right person, Paul?”

“I do.” Paul had no doubts that Daryl was the right person. He'd never even thought of marrying Daryl if he didn't think they would last. 

“Where you goin with this, Paul?”

Paul bit his bottom lip. “.. Stay here.” He turned and hurried up the stairs and into their bedroom. He walked across the room and into the bathroom where he retrieved the ring from under the sink. He hurried back downstairs. Daryl was still in the kitchen when he walked in. Arms crossed and looking nervous. He looked up when Paul walked over to him. Paul kept the ring box behind his back, debating if he should get down on one knee or not. “Daryl... you can say no...”

“... No to what?” Daryl asked slowly, cautiously.

“Um...” Paul took a deep breath, heart racing and butterflies in his stomach. “A few weeks ago... I found these.” He brought his hand holding the ring box between them and opened it. Daryl looked down at the rings and drew in a quick breath. “Daryl... I... I really didn't know how to propose... Rick said I should just go ahead and ask. I... I don't have a speech prepared or anything. All I can say is... I love you. You are... everything to me. I... I really don't know how I got through life before I met you. I'm sure I was just... going through the motions... everything was black and white. You make things brighter. You give me something to live for and look forward to in this world.” 

Daryl smiled. “Paul...” He uncrossed his arms and brought his hands up to Paul's cheeks to pull him into a gentle kiss. “Just ask... I don't need no big speech. I know ya love me... ya know I love ya... s'all we need ta know. So ask.”

Paul smiled and licked his lips. “Daryl, will you marry me?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Daryl was kissing him deeply. He moaned softly as Daryl pulled away. “Keep lickin yer damn lips like that 'n we ain't gonna get nowhere with this proposal.” Paul chuckled and looked down again, but Daryl just made him look back up. “Yeah... I'll marry ya.”

“R-Really?”

Daryl grinned and reached for the ring box. “Soon as this ring's on yer finger... yer mine fer life... ya sure ya wanna-”

Paul snatched the rings out of the box. He slid the ring onto Daryl's finger. “Me next.” Daryl chuckled and took Paul's ring and pushed it onto his marriage finger. Paul stared down at the golden circlet around his finger in amazement. 

“We ain't gonna do a big ass weddin, are we?”

Paul smiled up at him. “It's up to you. I'm just... so happy you said yes.”

“Wasn't gonna say no.” Daryl smiled and pulled Paul to his chest. His boyfriend sighed happily and rested his head over Daryl's chest. He could hear his boyfriend's heartbeat and closed his eyes, relaxing to the beat of it.


End file.
